“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama

Are you feeling overwhelmed with all the juggling you’re trying to do right now with family and business? Or are you just taking each day as it comes and not worrying about what’s not getting done from your plans?

Whichever one it is, (or somewhere in between), I’d like you to stop giving yourself a hard time. You can only do what you can do. If you’ve put your family first this summer, that’s great. So don’t feel guilty that you’ve put your business to one side! You only have 24 hours a day, and it’s your choice what you do with that time. It’s your own actions which you need to take responsibility for – no-one else can do that for you.

Mmm, was that harsher than usual? Well, I’ve spent time this week with some women who were beating themselves up about all the things they weren’t good at, or hadn’t done. It concerned me. Here were some amazing ladies, with so many skills and talents, yet they were focusing on things they hadn’t done, and seemed to have forgotten about all the wonderful things they had achieved! Once they started to see that they could only do so much each day, week and month, and that they had choices, they started to smile. It was a delight to see.

Whilst their actions were creating happiness for others, they were being so focused on those other people, they forgot to enjoy what they were doing. They were thinking that this “thing” on their list was all for someone else. Yet, if they didn’t have the skill or knowledge, they couldn’t support that other person or make them happy. What a gift! To make others happy with your skills and talents! Wow!

Being happy in business is your business

Do you embrace your skills and talents? Do they make you happy? Whilst you’re creating and supporting others, are you feeling happiness?

I believe if you’re happy in what you’re doing, those around you will share your happiness. Your happiness will spread into your work and your family, and your customers will be happier as you’re happier with the results/products you’re getting for them. Would you disagree with this? I’d love to hear your views. What a great conversation starter – is your happiness infectious 🙂

If you’re feeling a bit out of sorts at the moment, stop, breathe, and review what you’re doing. Take a bit of time to just see what you’re doing with your time, what makes you happy, and what’s important to you.

If you’d like help checking things out, feel free to book a 20 minute free Explore Call, or join the Business Cheerleading Club and get the help of other business owners to explore with you.

Is being happy in business a priority for you?

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Are you seeing all your hard work and efforts starting to pay off this year? I am. Both personally, for my family and my business.

None more so than for my eldest son this weekend. It was his national championships for his sport. He’s 16 years old and after some wobbles at the end of last year when he was working out if he even liked the sport any more, (as he’s been doing it for about 8 years now), he’s been focused on doing as well as he could in these championships.

He’s worked hard, and has stuck to his goal, through injury and recovery. Through his school work, which he put time and effort into as well. And he’s always listened to the advice his coaches have given him. He’s learnt, he’s tweaked, he’s put time in to his personal and physical development. The mantra “Keep on keeping on” has been very much in my mind watching and supporting him this year, with all the ups and downs.

His performance this weekend is what some may talk about as “solid”. There was nothing spectacular. Yes, he got some personal bests in a few of his 10 events (he does Decathlon), and he was close to his others. He had his highlights and some disappointments over the weekend. But he kept going. He focused on his own game rather than that of those he was competing against. We didn’t know it, but at the end of the 9th event he’d jumped from 7th to 4th, heading into the final 1500m. He didn’t know it either. That was interesting to me. He was so focused on his own personal performance that he didn’t need to know where he was or what others were doing around him. He concentrated on running his own race (the best he’s ever run it, not in time, just in technique), and finished the end of the weekend 4th in the UK. Wow. Just saying that makes me have goose bumps! Yes, I’m blown away by his talent.

But more importantly, what it showed was that his steady weekly tasks and progress all add up to something very special in the end. Yes, the other 19 boys who completed the event are all amazing. They have to learn and commit to practising 10 different events, whilst they do their school work, and have friends and other interests. But they focus on the end goal. And stick to it. They don’t let a little wobble in one event affect them overall (OK, some do, but that’s where those who get to the top manage this much better).

Just like our businesses are made up of many different moving parts, so a decathlete needs to manage their training, nutrition, rest, recovery, mental strength to get the result they want. If one part isn’t quite right it affects the rest of our business. If you’re not happy, or committed to what you’re doing it affects the whole thing!

Keep on keeping on – what does that mean for you?

Do you have one part of your business which isn’t working for you right now? Something which doesn’t feel quite right? What is it? Just be honest and say, “OK, this isn’t working right now, what are my options?” Do you feel that you’ve been keeping on yet nothing is working for you? Are you being consistent with your work, or are you jumping around all over the place trying different things out, and you’re not ready to keep on keeping on just yet?

If you’d like help exploring your options, feel free to book a 20 minute free Explore Call, or join the Business Cheerleading Club and get the help of other business owners to explore with you.

I’d love to hear how you Keep on Keeping on and what results you’ve seen personally, or professionally. Leave a comment below.

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We’re in full swing of holiday season here in the UK with school holidays at least one week in now. But do we all feel in holiday mode? Are you taking time off this summer, or are you juggling business, family, friends and holidays? It can be frustrating having more things to juggle at this time of year can’t it?

Or, you can look on this time of year as a time of reflection, review, celebration and time out, before the next phase of the year starts. What are you choosing to do with your time this summer?

I’ve often felt frustrated in the summer months when I can’t “get on” with things as much as I’d like. It’s felt like my spirit has had to be tamed to suit those around me. However, now I’m a bit older and wiser, I know that I should never feel “tamed” in any part of my life. I can’t help who I am, or the vision I have, so why should I turn the volume down in the summer to suit others?

So, this year, I’ve been very clear with the family what I’m wanting to achieve & the hours I’m working each day. We’ve got a detailed family schedule for all of our work (eldest son has a part-time summer job), sports training, and social times. It’s not just for the purposes of menu planning or transport arrangements. It’s to make it clear that work time is work time, and if I’m called on to do other things, I won’t be able to achieve the work for my business, or my clients. My boys have started to equate my work “rewards” (income) with family treats, so they’ve got a better idea as to the impact their demands have on our overall family situation.

I know we have our own mind monkeys at work every day too. But what if you told them what your grand plan for these next few weeks is, and you harness their energy to get everything done you want to? Our monkeys are generally of “mediocre mind” as Einstein puts it aren’t they, and aren’t fully briefed on the bigger picture we’re working towards.

Be clear what you want

It’s not just distractions which prevent us from achieving what we want, or our own procrastination or mind monkeys. I believe it’s because we’re not clear enough what we want to achieve, and how we’re going to do it, in the time we have available to us. Oh yes, I always underestimate how long something’s going to take me, so I build in wriggle room now to my schedule! Do you?

Whether you have a team working with you in your business, or if you’re by yourself, this time of year can be crucial to meeting the targets you set yourself at the start of the year. Be clear with the time you have available for your business and make those around you aware of the importance of this time you’ve got and what it will mean to them if you’re able to complete the tasks you want.

Oh, and when it’s holiday time, please switch your technology off. That’s the benefit of a holiday. Total switch off. You’ll feel the benefit of it when you come back.

I’d love to hear how you’re managing the holiday season, particularly if you’ve got more people wanting your attention at this time of year. Maybe I could share your tips next week?

The Stay on Track programme has proved a popular support to business owners wanting support this summer. I’ve got just 3 places left now for 1-1 support for 6 weeks. You have 20 minutes a week for 6 weeks which keeps you focused and on track, putting things in place for when you’re back to full hours at the end of the school holidays. So if this would help you, please get in touch & book your place today, for just £132. [Those in the Business Cheerleading Club, are making the most of a group weekly programme]

If your not sure if this would help you, why not book a free Explore Call (20 minutes), and let’s work things through together.

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How do you know if you’re achieving work life balance? Is it happiness? Is it the amount of time you’re spending in your garden or with your children?

This article in the Guardian this week explained how a New Zealand company trialled a 4 day working week for 5 days pay to test how this would affect workers work life balance. It’s interesting that this two week trial showed a 24 point increase in achieving work life balance.

In November last year just over half (54%) of staff felt they could effectively balance their work and home commitments, while after the trial this number jumped to 78%.

That’s powerful isn’t it? Would you like to increase your work life balance indicator by 24 points? I think many people would! Especially busy business owners.

Measures for achieving work life balance

What measures do you use for achieving work life balance? We all have different aspirations, so what may sound feasible for one may be totally alien to another.

Amount of time at home v work – Even if you work from home, the separation of home time and work time is often the biggest factor people mention when talking about achieving work life balance. Do you have the amount of time in mind that you want to achieve? Is it 10 hours work time? Or is it about being home by 4pm when the children arrive home from school?

Some people work the other way around – how much time do I have available to work if I need to take the children to school, do my home jobs, do the shopping for my neighbour and be able to pick the children up. OK, maybe that’s extreme, but remember, this is about what’s right for you.

Quality time with the family – What do you mean by quality? Is it a day out? Is it having a meal and chat together? Is it reading stories before bedtime? Is it being in the same place at the same time? Define what this is for you, if it’s important to you achieving work life balance.

Time spent doing hobbies – Do you work so you can play more? Would having more time doing your hobbies be an important measure of your work life balance?

Time doing exercise or sport – This may be about getting away from work at the right time to play the team sport you want to do. Or it might be devising your schedule so you can do everything you want to do in the week. If exercise or activity are important, (and I would suggest for a healthy lifestyle it is), then fitting it into your mix and balancing it into your week is crucial to your work life balance.

Time with friends – Is this something you’d like more time for? Is it nights out? Days walking? Holidays? Theatre? What does this mean to you, and how can you measure it?

Time to do home jobs or personal appointments – Just like the research in New Zealand, having time available to do your household tasks and get to the dentist on a day off, or take those things to the tip can be so beneficial to you feeling great. Right? So how can you get the balance right for you if this is important to achieving work life balance?

Quality & length of sleep – Yes, sleep is important 🙂 We talk about it a lot, and sleep is one major factor in reducing stress. But isn’t this what achieving work life balance is all about? Living a happier more fulfilled life?

How do you know if you’re achieving work life balance?

Personally I think balance changes over time. In my experience what was right for me when my children were small is very different now they’re teenagers. I don’t think my values have changed, but what I want to do with my 24 hours a day has a different focus.

In the Business Cheerleading Club we’ve been talking a lot about mindset recently, after our workshop with Lottie Moore. This shift in emphasis of mindset I think helps us look at what we want to achieve in life and not just in business.

I’ve got 5 spaces left on the Summer Programme if you’d like help with reviewing and achieving your work life balance. In just 20 minutes a week we’ll get that focus on your work and life, and set the actions for the next week. Simple steps of moving forward, with the support of an experienced listener and business owner may just be what you need to find your work life balance, this summer, and get ready for your autumn business growth.

Book now for only £132 for your summer support to keep you balanced and on track so you hit the ground running in September 🙂

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We had another sporting weekend, but this time it was watching it. This quote from Olympic ice skater Sasha Cohen sums up what inspired and made the family exclaim “wow”, (amongst other things!), at the weekend.

Whether you follow sport or not, learning that someone has been at the top of their game, crashed and burned, then fought their way back to being at the top of their game again, 16 years later is truly remarkable. I’m talking Tiger Woods, (Golf), here. But then that’s quickly followed by those “amazing” (read bonkers in my book), cyclists who are currently riding for 5 or 6 hours each day across France. And some still have the energy to sprint for the last 5km!

How much practice and perseverence do these athletes put in to follow their dreams? They work hard, and simply practice practice practice. Every day. What would your business look like if you practiced more and persevered more? Mine would be bigger. I’d be helping more people to grow themselves and their business. So why haven’t I done it if I know all the theory?

Yes, probably the same reason as you. I haven”t always believed in myself. My talents, my abilities, and even if I’m on the right track! That feel familiar? Yes, you’re really not alone in wondering all these things.

How do you feel when you put in so much work and effort on something, and you get no clients, or sales from that piece of work or idea? I often feel silly.

But what if, that new idea or product was just so new to those around you that it took them time to understand what it was all about? What if, you persevered and kept talking about it, in different ways, or working out how your product or service could offer the solution your customer is looking for? What if the timing just wasn’t right before? What would happen if you persevered?

So, with this in mind, pick one thing that you’ve put to one side recently that you know is a good idea but hasn’t “worked” yet. What can you do to share with your audience again and keep talking about it, and persevere with it.

If you know it’s right to follow this particular dream, dust it off & bring it to life again. Your customers need it don’t they? They just don’t know you offer it 🙂

Practice and Persevere with support

Today I’ve started a Stay on Track programme in the Business Cheerleading Club, aimed at those who have less time to spend on their business in the summer with children being at home. This is a group programme offered as part of the monthly support. We’ve already had one business owner say, “ah ha!” and get some clarity on what their focus will be for the next 6 weeks. I’d be delighted if you wanted to join us for this.

Or, if you’d prefer 1-1 support, then I’ve still got 5 places left on the summer holiday programme. 6 x 20 minute focus sessions for £132. The idea being you have 20 minutes a week for 6 weeks which keeps you focused and on track, putting things in place for when you’re back to full hours at the end of the school holidays. So if this would help you, please get in touch & book your place today.

By asking for help, and saying things out loud, you can help yourself work things out. If you need someone to listen to you, please book a free Explore Call (20 minutes), and let’s work things out together.

If you’d like Monday Thoughts, and our weekly business tips delivered direct to your inbox, you can sign up here:

I’ve failed lots over the years. In business, in friendships, in parenting. But then I’ve learnt so much by trying. What we often perceive as failure, is just us learning how not to do something isn’t it? It’s how we react to something and learn from it that is important.

With the World Cup football, and Wimbledon over, we’ve learnt lots about trying and failing, trying again and learning from the experience. So many of us look on as we watch elite athletes at the top of their sport when they’re heartbroken when they don’t succeed. We don’t see them as they train for hours and hours each day, but we learn about it from their interviews.

We’ve seen and heard about how much mindset is crucial to top athletes success. We saw it at an athletics championship this weekend too. Young people aspiring to be world class athletes who are learning from their mistakes, and tweaking their training and ideas. Eldest son had an amazing weekend, far outweighing his expectations. His biggest failure was in an event he expected to do well in, whilst others he hadn’t expected to do well in, he excelled. Yes, he’s learnt lots from his failures, and he knows he won’t let his mind get the better of him next time.

Speaking of mindset, I spent time with a client last week and helped her listen to herself as she let her mind monkeys speak her beliefs. It was fascinating. Watching her face as she spoke out loud where the beliefs came from and seeing that she knew that it was ridiculous to hold onto that belief now. We talked about all the ways she was actually doing this thing really well in many areas of her life, but when it came to her business, the mind monkeys took over. She sent me a photo on Friday of where she was succeeding in her life and could now recognise that she could do this “thing” which she was getting stuck on. She was smiling too, and knew that it was just in her head that she couldn’t do it 🙂

Asking for help isn’t failure – it’s taking control

By asking for help, and saying things out loud, you can help yourself work things through. Failure is learning. If you need someone to listen to you, please book an Explore Call (20 minutes), and let’s work things out together.

To help you over the summer holidays which I know can be a challenge, I’m offering 5 x 20 minute focus sessions for £132. The idea being you have 20 minutes a week for 5 weeks which keeps you focused and on track, putting things in place for when you’re back to full hours at the end of the school holidays. I’ve only got 9 places, and Business Cheerleading Club members have got first refusal on these, so if this would help you, please get in touch & book your place today.

Individual Focus sessions (20 minutes) can be booked, if time available in my diary for £33 a session (if you’ve had your free one already), which you can book here: Explore session)

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Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. Dale Carnegie

Last week saw some major “ah ha” moments for clients and family. I don’t know if something was in the air, but whatever it was, it was lovely to be part of the process of helping others realise that they could take a step forward.

For one client it was being helped to look at an issue through another’s eyes and look at a simple approach – one step at a time. She’d been looking at the long term goal, but forgetting that whilst we are looking ahead, we need to keep moving in small steps. She said, “it’s like I’d forgotten to use my common sense!” It’s easily done when we’re so focused on achieving and juggling things in our busy lives.

For another one the realisation that all she needed was to commit to half an hour a day on doing this one thing, and she’d see progress week on week in her business. Breaking things down for her was important so she could see what building blocks to put in place. And she felt she could commit to 30 minutes a day.

What could you achieve in 30 minutes a day on one thing in your business? I’d love to know . Message me, or email me.

And my family? Well. Eldest son had a remarkable day at his athletics competition on Saturday. His first one back from [his first] injury, and he simply relaxed, had fun and did his best. He ended the day with two personal best performances, and being top in his age group. He was amazed what he’d achieved simply by turning up and doing his best.

Youngest son, was asked by his coach to “give triathlon a go”. He’s done them before, but doesn’t enjoy pool swim training. Loves running and cycling, and open water swimming, but not the monotonous nature of up and down in a pool. I understand that. So, he was simply “giving it a go”, but as usual he put a lot of effort into it. I have to say it was a beautiful day, in gorgeous surroundings. He had fun, and was amazed at how well he did. And he loved it, and now wants to do more swim training so he can do more in the future!

What can you “try out” this week and “have fun” with and “give it a go” and simply “see what happens”? You never know. Thinking about it may well be worse than doing it 🙂 Share what you try with me, I’d love to hear what it’s like for you.

Give it a try

You can book a free 20 minute Explore Call with Tracey-Jane if you’d like help with your business planning.

If you’d like Monday Thoughts, and our weekly business tips delivered direct to your inbox, you can sign up here:

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I’m enjoying learning about being more productive and putting new systems and structures in place. For myself, my business and my family.

I’m trying new things out, not afraid to change those things if they don’t work for me. I’m also enjoying de-cluttering and getting rid of lots of excess paper in the office and on all those piles around the house. It’s actually quite good fun 🙂

Being more productive

I’ve been listening to How to Be a Productivity Ninja in the car these past couple of weeks, and have just ordered the book. There’s so many ideas in this book to help us in our work, home and business. The difficulty I’ve found with the audio book is that I had no way of writing down the notes and checklists! Hence the need, for me, to have a hard copy to refer to.

The biggest learning point for me has been about “The” To Do list. Graham Allcott made so much sense when he talked about a Master To Do list, which includes the weekly shopping, daily exercise, PLUS the Projects you’re working on.

What’s a Project?

A project is anything which has multiple “to dos” on it. It could be booking a holiday, or building a website, or a creating a marketing strategy.

This was a major “ah ha” moment for me! A project may be ongoing for a few months, yet it sits on the “to do” list and is often a frustration as it looks at you every day.

Often a project is something worked on by a few people. A website for a client will be at least a two-way process. People need time to think and reflect to get the right feel for them. But when you’ve allocated time in your diary to complete certain tasks, it can be frustrating when said client doesn’t get back to you when you’ve agreed they would!

So having a “Waiting” list where you’re waiting for someone else to do something is a perfect way of moving it off your immediate to do list, without it being lost and forgotten about.

Creating time for being more productive

That may sound contrary – needing time to be more productive! However, what I’m finding is that I need to create space to get things organised. Create new systems and structures. Try things out. And de-cluttering the office doesn’t happen without putting some time and effort in.

The Productivity Ninja book suggests we all need monthly, weekly and daily checklists. They’ll take time to set up and trial and review. You may need time to get your email to zero for the first time in a long time. I’ve made a start, but I’m not there yet. Although those last 200 emails from ages ago are probably not important. My guess is that they’re newsletters I signed up to that I didn’t have time to read when they first appeared in my inbox, and I haven’t added “reading time” to my weekly checklist before now. So, in theory they should be easy to clear when I have my “weekly productivity review” time this week.

So, I’m looking forward to testing out some of my new systems this week. I’ve started my lists and systems, but I have to use them – will I need something on my phone as well as my trusty notebook? Or will the spreadsheet I’ve set up work well for me?

It’s going to take time, and as Graham Allcott says at the end of his book, he doesn’t always get it right. He does however share a lot of productivity tools for being more productive. I highly recommend you review your systems and procedures regularly, even if you’re already a productivity ninja. Life and technology moves on. New “things” come into our lives which we need to do and keep on top of.

The Business Cheerleading Club members are constantly talking about their schedules and getting it right for them. It’s a work in progress for most of us. So if this is an area you’d like help with, join us. They’re all happy to share their tips.

I’m sure you’ve heard this quote before, but I didn’t know who it was attributed to, did you?

I know I’ve been guilty in the past of not spending enough time in the planning phase. Sometimes that’s been as simple as not getting enough food for the weekend picnics we need for all day athletic events. At other times, in my business, it’s been not getting everything ready I’ve needed before launching something. Thinking that if I launch something, I’ll respond to customers needs when they ask. All that has done has put extra pressure on me, I’ve been vague with clients, and I’ve not always given the best service possible. And it was something I could have avoided!

Sometimes in business, especially in the early stages, we’re so keen to be ‘doing’ things all the time, we don’t spend enough time planning, or setting systems and structures up. There may be things which others could help with (partners, children, parents, friends), if only you’d ask them to help you. I know I’ve sometimes felt that if I’m not “out there” trying to “get the money in”, I’m not doing my job properly. But then, looking back, if I’d only put those systems in place, I’d have sold more, or helped that customer in a much better way than I did by rushing.

This was brought into sharp focus last week with a client who has an amazing mission. She was trying to do things by herself, and hadn’t even thought about asking for help. When I asked if someone else could “do that”, she thought about it and said, “yes, but they’d have to be the right person”. So she thought some more and came up with the idea that her Dad may be able to help out with a particular aspect of this project. I got a text from her over the weekend, saying Dad had said yes. She was relieved that she’d got help, and whilst she’ll still have to have an overview on the tasks Dad is carrying out for her, she doesn’t need to find time to actually do “that job”.

It’s a simple thing to ask for help, but many of us think we have to do everything ourselves. Just because it’s your business, doesn’t mean you have to do everything. Yes you’re responsible for everything in your business, but if you got a bit of help, what would that allow you to do more of? Rest, spend time with the family, create new products, see more clients? Think about it.

Two things which are linked for you to think about this week – planning and who can help you? I’d love to hear what ideas this has sparked for you. Let me know.

I had a wonderful conversation about “Conversations that Flow” last week with Matthew Newnham (it’s about 45 minutes). It was fascinating how his simple ideas for how we can think about conversations, can help us make the most of our time with people. If we think of a conversation as a two-way process, talking about something both parties are interested in, the end result is that both parties will feel better at the end than at the start. Does that make sense to you? I need to listen to it again and pull out the excellent tips he gave us to make use of every opportunity we’re given to share our business with others.

You can book a free 20 minute Explore Call with Tracey-Jane if you’d like help with your business planning.

If you’d like Monday Thoughts, and our weekly business tips delivered direct to your inbox, you can sign up here:

There is a lot of focus about good mental health for employees at the moment, so I’d like to focus some attention on the mental health of business owners. As a business owner, you’re juggling many things, especially if you’re running your business by yourself and have to do everything in your business.

Staying fit and healthy is crucial to the success of your business – without you being well and able to carry out your weekly tasks, you will have no business. Doing exercise, drinking water and getting fresh air are the basics aren’t they, which we all know about. But what about your mental health? Whilst your walking are you trying to fix the problem “that customer” has? Or are you worrying about not having enough money to pay your supplier at the end of the month?

Can you see? Just because your taking exercise, doesn’t always mean your mental health is being improved, and can often mean you’re not in the mood for your business.

Business owners share their mental health tips

Many people set up their own business to share a passion they’ve discovered when they’ve been helped by something. My very own Business Cheerleading Club was set up in response to needing a supportive place to be understood as a business owner and share the ups and downs we have each week with other business owners who know what it’s like. The support for each other, and your business, within the club is amazing, and fills me with joy to be helping others find the right place for them to grow their business. Knowing you have the right support helps you be in the right frame of mind to run your own business and support your mental health.

So I asked some business owners to share their mental health tips, not only from their own experience, but also from what they do in their business:

As a counsellor and therapist working with children, young people and adults,
many with bereavement, loss, post abuse, trauma and mental health issues, I fully understand that staying mentally strong yourself as a business owner is important.
It’s draining for me, so whilst I teach relaxation, meditation and visualisation methods to my clients, so that they can use these mental health tips and tools in their daily lives, I have to ensure I do this for myself.I’m fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country, overlooking a river, which is calming for me.My mental health tips for business owners are:
Knowing. how to love yourself, keeping time and space for yourself each week is paramount to keeping yourself healthy on every level.

I’m a Reiki Master Teacher and EFT (Tapping) practitioner and both are excellent for helping people to become calm and balanced.

I suffered with anxiety, stress and depression for many years and I can honestly say I am calmer now than I have been for over 20 years. I now help others to feel better about themselves and my clients tell me they feel very relaxed after a treatment.

One lady told me she had not had a migraine since their treatment last week, when previously, they were getting them every day. That’s how wonderful Reiki is!

My mental health tips for business owners are:

Find what works for you to stay relaxed, then practice it, and make sure it’s the first thing that goes in your diary

My work at the Five Institute and beyond is based on the central premise that our inner and outer solutions for good mental health, wellbeing and everything else we do should be designed around each individuals nature, needs and worldview.

Although that is neither an original thought or anything but common sense, some of the tools we have such as The Vitality Test are an original and unique way to achieve that end.

I’ve suffered myself with both anxiety and depression. In my teenage years, the lack of understanding as to who I am as a person resulted in the treatments and suggestions doing more harm than good.

Later it became obvious to me what went wrong, but at the time it was a mystery to the professionals concerned, and highly distressing to me.

My mental health tips for business owners are:

Learn and understand what’s right for you. If something doesn’t feel or seem right, try something else. We’re all unique and it may take time, but stick with your desire to be mentally and physically healthy

My business is bras4mums/BraLady Cambridge and I help women feel more confident by fitting them in supportive and comfortable bras, specifically maternity & nursing bras through bras4mums.

Having struggled through two pregnancies and breastfeeding wearing the wrong sized bras, I trained as a bra fitter. My third pregnancy and subsequent breastfeeding with my youngest was transformed by wearing properly fitting bras.

“I’ve always struggled finding nice nursing bras in my size (H) and found it all quite depressing! Looking at her website gave me hope. Emma came to my house to fit me which was so convenient with two kids in tow. She brought a large selection for me to try and was so friendly. I found the perfect bra and it has transformed how I look and feel. Breastfeeding doesn’t mean you have to wear horrible bras. I recommend using Emma’s services to anyone wanting a comfy stylish bra.”

New mums have a lot to deal with in the early days/weeks after giving birth but having properly fitted bras can make such a difference to them. It is one less thing for them to worry about and often enables them to feel more confident about breastfeeding because they are comfortable and well supported by their bras.

My mental health tips for business owners are:

Make regular time for yourself. If you don’t look after yourself, then your business will ultimately suffer as you eventually burn out.

What are you doing to maintain a good mental health whilst running your business?

There are so many ways of improving and maintaining a good level of mental health, as our business owners here have shared. I believe that you need to find what works for you. It can take time, especially if you’ve allowed your business to take over your life.

When I’m working with a client, I always say, “small steps”, and we’ll look at what can easily be added into a daily and weekly routine to start getting the balance right again.

You won’t be alone if you’re struggling to find the right balance in your life, and feel anxious or concerned about your life and your business. Just re-read what the business owners have shared above! Sometimes it just takes us a little nudge or knock to take us “over the edge” to make us realise it’s time to make a change.

If you need some support to work out what’s right for you, feel free to contact me and let’s explore your options.

If you’d be happy to share what you do in the comments below so that others can benefit from your experience, that would be wonderful.